Texas Teen Examines the Music of the Backyard

March 25, 2013

Austin, the capital city of Texas, bills itself as “The Live Music Capital of the World” and supports a vast array of local musical talents. One of the newest singer-songwriters on the scene is William Graham, the 13-year-old son of well-known Austin musician Jon Dee Graham. William made his debut at this year's "South by Southwest" Festival - held in Austin earlier this month. And he is a gifted young man whose interests range from music to engineering.

At this year's South By Southwest Festival, the Saxon Pub put established Texas singers and their musical offspring onstage together.

For singer John Dee Graham's 13-year-old son, William, this was a debut.

Hanging out with famous performers like Jimmie Dale Gilmore is natural for William.

His father says he grew up among musicians. “His first question, when he was learning to talk and he would meet someone, he would go ''What do you play?' because he thought everybody was a musician," he said.

William is now a skilled guitar player and writes his own songs. “I have always been around music and I have always loved going to shows and listening to music," he said.

But William also enjoys some quiet moments in one of Austin's nature preserves, where he has time to think about his music, his writing and his many other interests, like architecture, engineering and environmental architecture.